Don't lose the context

Wednesday

Jan 2, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Editor: I must comment on Pat Small's citing of the Second Amendment and choosing only parts of the Constitution we like while misrepresenting the very amendment he cites. Yes, our forefathers wrote it as they did for a reason, but not the half-amendment misquoted by the assault weapons lobby.

Editor: I must comment on Pat Small's citing of the Second Amendment and choosing only parts of the Constitution we like while misrepresenting the very amendment he cites. Yes, our forefathers wrote it as they did for a reason, but not the half-amendment misquoted by the assault weapons lobby.The text adopted in 1791 does not begin with The Right of the people. The full text is "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Why was a well-regulated militia necessary to the free state in 1791? At that time, the newly formed United States had no standing army to defend itself. The Second Amendment was drafted that in the event of invasion, a militia could be organized to defend us.The next year, the National Defense Act instituting mandatory militia duty specifically required able-bodied men of a certain age to have "a good musket or firelock, —, two spare flints, a pouch for 24 cartridges or a rifle and twenty balls —" at their own expense, raising the concept of legally keeping arms, and next year's legislation gives the specifications for said arms. If you want to exercise your constitutionally guaranteed rights, you are guaranteed a flintlock musket and 20 balls.That imminent invasion was very real; in fact it occurred, and we nearly lost all of our newly gained rights in the War of 1812 and saw the White House burned and the Capital sacked.Now, in the 21st century, we have an Army, a Navy, a Marine Corps, an Air Force, a Coast Guard, a Border Patrol, Homeland Security heavily armed and sucking down a disproportional amount of the federal budget. It's time for the civilian militia to stand down. In the period after World War II, we experienced six mass shootings over a 60-year span. In the years since the assault rifle ban expired, we have had eight, several using weapons of mass damage made in North Carolina. If you cannot defend your home with less than 80 rounds, learn to shoot better.I challenge anyone to cite a credible home defense case where law-abiding homeowners had to have the firepower of an assault rifle to protect themselves. None of my 30-plus legal firearms would be infringed upon by limiting military-capable firearms to military and law enforcement, and although many were acquired before licensing was required, I see no problem if asked to register and license them, as I now have to do for my car.Over the next few months many will point out other factors involved in the horrific events of last month, but those factors were undeniably magnified by the shooter's access to high-capacity firearms. We can no more pick which ones to address that we can pick parts of the Constitution if we plan to reduce the chance of future horrors — but that is what we probably will do, and we will fail.James BerrierWelcome